Several things in here that I love and that hit me here. One was that “Jesus was always looking for people in a bad story – helping them write a better one …creating the space for people to be transformed, to encounter the Kingdom of God.”

“Salvation is a change of direction …deciding to write another story, a better story, a Kingdom story in our lives.”

“transformation space”

“We are not saved for ourselves, we live in a much bigger story, bigger than just our personal salvation, or personal paycheck, or personal career, we are trying to write a much bigger, larger story. It’s not about my salvation, it’s about our salvation, it’s about the community transformation.”

Good news – both for me as a broken person – that Jesus looks for me in my bad story and can redeem it. Secondly, I love the emphasis on community transformation. And that we need transformation space within our community. It’s not just MY salvation I’m seeking. This is really encouraging to me, because as a culture, we get so caught up in the individual salvation, the individual’s story, the individual’s spiritual journey. Which can really be discouraging feeling like we have to do it all by ourselves and that it’s all about myself. But thinking about it in the context of community means I’m not alone and that I have others with me. My failings, shortcomings and sins are theirs too. And theirs is mine. We are a part of each other. We journey, love, hurt, fail, succeed and are redeemed together – and the idea of that brings joy to my heart – to be a part of something much bigger than just myself.

I love Jesus and the Jesus in my brothers and sisters on the journey with me. Thank you for journeying with me!